WASHINGTON - The House passed a bill July 19 to provide $518 billion in Pentagon spending for fiscal 2013 that also blocks the U.S. from buying equipment from the Russian arms export firm Rosoboronexport....More

The U.S. Transportation Department says it will not give airlines more time to comply with new rules on the consistent assessment of baggage fees on interline and code-share itineraries being implemented July 24, but will exercise some discretion in penalizing them for violations....More

NEW DELHI - The proposed sale will not alter the basic military balance in the region, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which adds, “There will be no adverse impact on the U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.” (Photo: John Fricker)...More

Indonesian state-owned carrier Merpati Nusantara has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering financing to acquire 20 C-212 passenger aircraft made by state-owned airframer Indonesian Aerospace (IAe).
Merpati will buy five 24-seat C-212-200 and 15 28-seat C-212-400 aircraft, says a senior IAe official, adding that the first, a -200 turboprop, will be delivered early next year.
The official says IAe already had an agreement to sell Merpati 20 C-212s, but the latest MOU is significant because it includes financing....More

The Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong is considering an application for an air operator’s certificate for Jetstar Hong Kong, a proposed airline that plans to begin recruitment of a first batch of 100 pilots and cabin crew in the next few months....More

Hawaiian Airlines attributes all of its 2011 operating profit to its growing transpacific operations, the carrier states in financial filings with the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT), and those services continued to make a disproportional contribution to its positive financial performance in the first quarter of this year.
The carrier’s DOT Form 41 filings show a $38.4 million operating profit and 10% operating margin for the transpacific services in 2011, but a $13.6 million operating loss and negative 1% margin on domestic services....More

The privatization of Puerto Rico’s San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (LMM) is awaiting FAA approval, which, if granted, would mark the first transition of a U.S. airport from government to private control.
The deal awarding Aerostar Airport Holdings a 40-year contract to manage LMM is being reviewed by the FAA and will be finalized after the agency awards a Part 139 operating certificate, says the government of Puerto Rico. A timeline for the approval was not disclosed....More

Sikorsky plans to launch a second Entrepreneurial Challenge at this week’s AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wis., citing the success of its first online competition to identify small, innovative companies that it can help incubate....More

Spirit Airlines’ rapid expansion of service at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is opening markets that Southwest Airlines could serve nonstop from nearby Dallas Love Field when federal restrictions on service there are lifted in October 2014, an Aviation Week analysis shows.
But Barry Biffle, Spirit’s chief marketing officer, say he is not concerned.
“You’re talking two years from now, and it’s a big market,” Biffle says. “We’re only putting in enough service to soak up the stimulation [of new demand] with our lower fares.”...More

Several companies in Thailand are hoping to capitalize on the country’s air traffic growth by starting new carriers.
Potential startup Shaba Airlines plans to operate an Airbus A340 from Bangkok to Iran, the Civil Aviation Department’s Wiwit Deepradit, tells Aviation Week. Wiwit, who is chief of the flight operations inspections group, also notes that the carrier has applied for an air operator certificate (AOC), but he would not disclose who owns the airline....More

Bolstered by about $2.9 billion in programs for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the U.S. Army will account for $4.4 billion in counter-IED programs, more than half the estimated $6.7 billion that the Pentagon is expected to spend, between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2017. (Photo: iRobot)...More

Transport and environmental ministers from several countries opposed to the EU’s emissions trading system will gather in Washington July 31-Aug. 1 for closed-door meetings on political strategies to challenge the bloc’s carbon-trading system. (Photo: NOAA)...More

News

Sikorsky plans to launch a second Entrepreneurial Challenge at this week’s AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wis., citing the success of its first online competition to identify small, innovative companies that it can help incubate....More

The U.S. Transportation Department says it will not give airlines more time to comply with new rules on the consistent assessment of baggage fees on interline and code-share itineraries being implemented July 24, but will exercise some discretion in penalizing them for violations....More

Spirit Airlines’ rapid expansion of service at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is opening markets that Southwest Airlines could serve nonstop from nearby Dallas Love Field when federal restrictions on service there are lifted in October 2014, an Aviation Week analysis shows.
But Barry Biffle, Spirit’s chief marketing officer, say he is not concerned.
“You’re talking two years from now, and it’s a big market,” Biffle says. “We’re only putting in enough service to soak up the stimulation [of new demand] with our lower fares.”...More

The privatization of Puerto Rico’s San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (LMM) is awaiting FAA approval, which, if granted, would mark the first transition of a U.S. airport from government to private control.
The deal awarding Aerostar Airport Holdings a 40-year contract to manage LMM is being reviewed by the FAA and will be finalized after the agency awards a Part 139 operating certificate, says the government of Puerto Rico. A timeline for the approval was not disclosed....More

Bolstered by about $2.9 billion in programs for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the U.S. Army will account for $4.4 billion in counter-IED programs, more than half the estimated $6.7 billion that the Pentagon is expected to spend, between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2017. (Photo: iRobot)...More

Several companies in Thailand are hoping to capitalize on the country’s air traffic growth by starting new carriers.
Potential startup Shaba Airlines plans to operate an Airbus A340 from Bangkok to Iran, the Civil Aviation Department’s Wiwit Deepradit, tells Aviation Week. Wiwit, who is chief of the flight operations inspections group, also notes that the carrier has applied for an air operator certificate (AOC), but he would not disclose who owns the airline....More

Transport and environmental ministers from several countries opposed to the EU’s emissions trading system will gather in Washington July 31-Aug. 1 for closed-door meetings on political strategies to challenge the bloc’s carbon-trading system. (Photo: NOAA)...More

NEW DELHI - The proposed sale will not alter the basic military balance in the region, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which adds, “There will be no adverse impact on the U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.” (Photo: John Fricker)...More

WASHINGTON - The House passed a bill July 19 to provide $518 billion in Pentagon spending for fiscal 2013 that also blocks the U.S. from buying equipment from the Russian arms export firm Rosoboronexport....More

The Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong is considering an application for an air operator’s certificate for Jetstar Hong Kong, a proposed airline that plans to begin recruitment of a first batch of 100 pilots and cabin crew in the next few months....More

Indonesian state-owned carrier Merpati Nusantara has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering financing to acquire 20 C-212 passenger aircraft made by state-owned airframer Indonesian Aerospace (IAe).
Merpati will buy five 24-seat C-212-200 and 15 28-seat C-212-400 aircraft, says a senior IAe official, adding that the first, a -200 turboprop, will be delivered early next year.
The official says IAe already had an agreement to sell Merpati 20 C-212s, but the latest MOU is significant because it includes financing....More

Hawaiian Airlines attributes all of its 2011 operating profit to its growing transpacific operations, the carrier states in financial filings with the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT), and those services continued to make a disproportional contribution to its positive financial performance in the first quarter of this year.
The carrier’s DOT Form 41 filings show a $38.4 million operating profit and 10% operating margin for the transpacific services in 2011, but a $13.6 million operating loss and negative 1% margin on domestic services....More

The general feeling among many of China’s naval neighbors and in U.S. military circles is that China has been turning into a bit of a bully in (re)staking territorial claims in the seas off its coasts....More

Former Editor-in-Chief Dave North wrote pilot reports on more than 120 aircraft during his career at Aviation Week. His visits to Embraer began in 1978, long before the Brazilian company’s privatization and emergence as a powerhouse in regional jets. Here, he recalls his Embraer experiences, culminating in a test flight of the E170....More